Recent Posts

Archives

Please welcome my guest blogger, Steve Kesterson. He has done a lot of research on the benefits of CBD Oil.

PAIN. We all suffer varying bouts with degrees of pain. A revolution has emerged with a plant species extraction that has been known by man for centuries and in our lifetime maligned and outlawed by governments worldwide. Cannabis; two kinds, marijuana, and Hemp, are finding new inroads in medical treatment and providing sufferers a benign solution for chronic pain and relief from a plethora of medical maladies. Hemp oil, in particular, is a derivative that contains only a trace of THC which is the psychoactive side of marijuana’s popularity with pot lovers.

Here is a photo of a tick bite from a blacklegged tick or also known as a deer tick.

That is the tick that causes Lyme disease. FYI, Lyme disease is an infection spread through the bite of a deer tick that is infected with a bacterium called Borellelia burgdoferi (who really cares about the name!). Those cruddy ticks get it from biting another infected animal like a deer, bear, mouse, other mammals, and even a bird. (So how did those critters get it?)

This picture was taken in February 2018. I was bitten by some critter, but I didn’t know what. The bite looked so odd, I took a picture. After reading my blog, a friend, Linda McIntyre, asked me if I have been tested for Lyme disease. I have not. I’m wondering if anybody out there is familiar with Lyme disease and does this bite look like one from that tick?

I look in the mirror and I can’t see it. Others look at me, and they can’t see it either. I hide it well so people don’t judge me. I don’t want them to see me as lazy, an overweight person who doesn’t exercise. Their looks and advice hurt. In the mirror, I appear normal, but inside my body, something is terribly wrong. And nobody knows it but me.

I have to say, I find the character I am developing quite unique and interesting, even to me, her creator. Her name is Erin Nightwalker. Yes, she is of Native American lineage. She has kept her maiden name because her now deceased husband insisted she should in honor of her heritage. She works undercover and is rough around the edges but has a vulnerable and tender side she tries to keep hidden. She is practical, yet sometimes finds help and support through the beliefs and practices of her ancestry. Erin drinks wine out of paper cups but chooses to imbibe her favorite poison, scotch, especially single malt, from fine crystal. What she drinks and drinks from is a reflection of what kind of day she has had. So, for Erin, I have put together some things you might not know about Scotch whisky. *Yes, there is a difference between scotch and Scotch whisky. (To keep reading, click on continue reading below)

When I wrote Walks in Stardust I knew that literature, myths, and legends were full of magical swords and daggers, especially ones made from “something that fell from the sky.” Those that were forged from meteoric iron usually had magical, good, or evil properties. The blade in Walks in Stardust would also need to be special. I couldn’t help but wonder what ancients thought when a meteor crossed the night heavens and fell to Earth. It must have been a mix of terror and awe. I still am mesmerized when I see a falling star. (I probably saw more at drive-in movies or parked by the water amid a long, passionate smooch than anywhere else on the planet).At the time of weaving the strings of the story together, I talked about it with friends…other amateur archaeologists who loved to spin scenarios around artifacts we found on sites. One happened to be an artist, and he rendered an image of the knife I created in my imagination. Besides the picture below, he also had a labeled diagram of how it went together. I continue to find it fascinating.

https://travel.usnews.com/Outer_Banks_NC/A few pictures of the cousins’ reunion in Duck, North Carolina. What a great time. Can’t wait for the next on in Cape Coral, Florida. I only wish I’d had more time to explore the Outer Banks and soak up the rich history. I think I’ll go again. “Croatan” and the lost colony has always fascinated me. https://bit.ly/2LyyRRB Anyone else visited the Outer Banks?

Had a lovely time at the Florida Library Association Conference. It was held at the Caribe Royale Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando, Fl. I met some nice folks and made some new contacts. John Hope ( a fellow author) was my at the neighboring table, and we had some fun conversations.

A few months ago, my first cousin, Ashley Armistead, received a message on his answer phone. The caller said he didn’t want anything and to please not hang up. As it turned out, the caller had gotten results from his DNA test and, in a roundabout way through Ancestry.com, Ashley’s name (along with others) showed up. When others he got in touch with or tried to contact came to a dead end, the next on his list was to call Ashley. Jeff, the caller, explained that his father (who was deceased) had not known who his real father was. Jeff wanted to know who his grandfather was. Early on, he sent a picture of himself and our first reaction was shock. He was definitely one of us. It was like looking at the face of another of our first cousins. No doubt, he was an Armistead!